September 19, 2023

Linn County News

Published September 20, 2023

Roland Jerome “Jerry” Rowe, age 95, of Iola, Kan., passed away Sept. 12, 2023, at Heritage Health Center, Chanute, Kan. Jerry was born at home on Jan. 18, 1928, in Bazine, Kan. He was the oldest of four children born to Roland Vernon Rowe and Millie (Mounce) Rowe.

Jerry attended school in Bazine and Garnett, Kan. He graduated in 1946 from Blue Mound High School, Blue Mound, Kan. Jerry was on the football team when they went undefeated. After high school he joined the United States Air Force and spent two years in the military.

Jerry and Rosalie Rebecca Priest were married on January 27, 1952, in Ozark, Ark.

Jerry and Rosalie moved to Ruskin Heights, Mo., where he worked at the Leeds GM Plant in Kansas City. Jerry and Rosalie moved to a farm between Blue Mound and Mound City in 1962, where he farmed and did construction.

Jerry lived through a lot of things, including the 1930’s dust bowl in western Kansas and a tornado that destroyed the family home in Ruskin Heights in 1957. Jerry enjoyed playing his guitar, banjo, harmonica, and mandolin. He was a 50-year member of the Kansas Old Time Fiddlers, Pickers, and Singers, Inc.

Jerry was preceded in death by his wife, Rosalie; his parents; sister, Bonnie Roper;